Random Vegetables with Savory Peanut Butter Sauce

I had some “Thai” peanut and sesame baked tofu in the fridge. I wanted to serve it with the spaghetti squash and beet greens from last week’s Farmer’s Market. The problem was I had already stirred quite a bit of basil pesto into the spaghetti squash the night before and I needed a sauce that was compatible with both pesto and sesame peanut tofu. I must have looked in five different cookbooks for inspiration when I came across Deborah Madison’s Quick Peanut Sauce in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. (I have said it before,” If you want the best vegetarian cookbook out there, that is the one.)

The random vegetables are just that—whatever you have on hand, whatever you feel like eating, or whatever you find in your CSA box or Farmer’s Market. Garlicky and tangy and sort of sweet, this, my variation of Ms. Madison’s sauce, enriches an assortment of vegetables, as well as grains and proteins. Serve it cold, spooned over your choice of goodies.

Heaping 1/3 cup chunky (unsweetened) peanut butter

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tablespoons tamari soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar or honey

1 teaspoon chili oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

¼ teaspoon Real Salt, or to taste

¼ cup water

In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili oil and water with a fork. Taste and add the salt if you deem necessary.

Makes about 1 cup.

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The Markets of Mexico—Poblano Chiles Stuffed with Potatoes and Cheese

Que le doy—what can I get you?—they call out to you as you pass by their stalls, brimming with fruits or vegetables or flowers, any variety of meat and much much more. You can hear the pirate CD stall a mile away or maybe it is the birthday of the girl selling leather belts and someone has hired a guitarist to sing her Las Mananitas.

So rich in color and abundance, so full of optimism, with smells easily and not so easily identified, give me a Mexican Mercado any day over a supermarket with higher prices and sterile packaging, and lacking the bright vibrancy of life.

Carmen browsing the fruit stall

Usually I can’t buy much—a banana or orange here or there, and I can never get out of Mexico without a new bolsa—the inexpensive shopping bags print-screened with images of Frida or the Virgin Guadalupe.

But I have a kitchen this week—here in San Miguel de Allende with Felipe and Diana.

On Tuesday we wandered the 8 acre portable market; they began unloading and set-up at 4 am and by the time our taxi dropped us off around 10:30 it was in full crescendo, tiny brown, wrinkled senoras wrapped in their traditional shawls selling avocados and limes from their garden, old cowboys with older tools arranged on a blanket, and more than I could count tables, in front of stands with each vendor hand forming tortillas, or other shapes to hold a selection of frijoles, thinly sliced meat, red and green salsa, grated cheese—it all depends on the menu, and it is all cooked right there in front of you.

Candied Limes and Coconut

Felipe says he loves to watch women shop for food and that we did. We had a mission of sorts and our purchases have defined our meals for the week. I bought a fresh coconut that I have yet you grate, to fill the hollowed-out limes that today I will simmer in sugar syrup until they are soft and sweet. Laura treated us to a snack of corn on the cob right off the grill. The girl cut it in 2-inch pieces and put it in a plastic bag before she added the chile powder and fresh-squeezed lime juice. We moved on slowly around each corner and passageway, taking it all in through our skin. We found beans call Peruana, a white bean that makes the creamiest of refried beans; dried guajillo chiles and garlic and onion we bought to flavor the beans. The freshest of green poblano chiles and small white potatoes eventually became dinner that night. Oh and we needed fresh tomatoes for sauce and jalapeno chiles and avocados for guacamole. Fragile purple orchids went in Diana’s shopping bolsa at the very end and now they grace the kitchen counter.

Poblano Chiles Stuffed with Potatoes and Cheese

4 poblano chiles

About 1 ½ pounds of Yukon gold potatoes, (peeled or not,) steamed until a fork pierces easily

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ of an onion

½ cup (1/4-inch) diced zucchini squash

½ cup grated mozzarella cheese

Crema (from the Mexican grocery)

Real Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cube instant vegetable bullion

Roast the chiles over an open flame or broiler–on your grill is best: Heat the broiler (or flame grill) to high. Place the peppers directly under the hot broiler (or on the hot grill) and cook, turning occasionally, until blistered and blackened on all surfaces, about 3 to 5 minutes for each exposed surface; set aside to cool. Once cooled, run the peppers under a stream of cool water and pull off the blackened skin and seeds. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook and stir the onion until it is transparent. Add the diced squash and cook and stir a few more minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Mash the potatoes with some salt and a bit of crema if needed. Mix in the cooked onion and zucchini and the diced cheese. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Stuff the peeled peppers with the potato mixture.

Make the sauce: Puree the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the tomato mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally. Mash the bullion cube and stir into the sauce. Cook until any traces of bullion have become part of the sauce.

Spread the sauce in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish. Lay the rellenos in the sauce. Cover and cook until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted.  Drizzle with the crema.

Makes 4 servings.

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Curried Potatoes and Kale

Our friend from Teasdale Utah, down in the middle of the state just minutes from Torrey, arrived last week bearing kale from her neighbor’s garden. With the wonderful variety of potatoes we have been getting from Ranui Gardens I made a spicy curry dinner. This coconut sauce and vegetables are perfect over steamed brown basmati rice with red quinoa —3/4 cup rice:1/4 cup red quinoa: 2 cups water. Serve with chutney and yogurt or raita.

In this recipe, the prep steps for the tofu, potatoes and kale are given separately. Multi-tasking is efficient here: prepare the potatoes while the tofu is being pressed, and boil the potatoes while the tofu is crisping and boil the kale while the onion and garlic cooks.

well-scrubbed potatoes

Curried Potatoes and Kale

1 (12 ounce) block extra firm tofu

1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 medium potatoes, any variety, well-scrubbed

1 bunch kale, stems removed and discarded

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoons turmeric

Pinch cayenne

½ teaspoon (or more, to taste) dried red chile pepper flakes

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk

Salt to taste

Drain the tofu from its water and cut in half lengthwise. Place on a tea towel in a baking dish and cover with a part of the towel. Top with a second baking dish and place something heavy inside; it should weigh 1 to 2 pounds. Monitor so that the weight stays centered over the tofu pieces and press for about 10 minutes. The tea towel will absorb much extra moisture, even though you started with extra firm tofu. Dice the pressed tofu into ½-inch to ¾-inch cubes.

Golden Tofu Cubes

Heat the first tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium flame. Add the tofu cubes and cook about 10 minutes, turning the tofu after a few minutes, until the cubes are golden on at least 2 sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on paper towels.

Bring a saucepan of water to boil with a good amount of salt. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks, add them to the pot and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pot and set aside.

Add the kale leaves to the salted water. Simmer them until the greens are tender to your tongue, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the water, saving about 2 cups of the cooking water. Let the kale cool on a cutting board and then chop—about 1 inch apart with your knife, in both directions to cut the leaves.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium flame. Add the onion and garlic and cook and stir until the garlic is translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the turmeric and cayenne and the pepper flakes. Add the coconut milk, and the cooked potatoes and chopped kale, stirring everything around. Stir in the golden tofu cubes and enough of the reserved cooking water to make a wet sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally to let the flavors meld and heat the vegetables and tofu. Season with salt and more chile pepper flakes to taste.

Makes about 4 servings.

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Potato and Garbanzo Bean Curry

It’s day 12 of the rafting trip.  This trip through the Grand Canyon has been called “ a trip backwards through time” as the river cuts through progressively older strata.  The days are hot, hovering at 110 degrees F., and the water coming straight out of Glen Canyon Dam is cold, around 50 degrees F. We have all become part of the desert and our worldly cares have melted away. Ahhh. We are deep in the canyon and it’s not my night to cook.

(But I am posting this as a draft and will store it to be published on a future date from my desk in Park City before we even launch at Lee’s Ferry, so the desert rat in me has yet to come out, nor have I felt the thrill of a dangerous-class rated rapid.)

Back to the river. Our coolers still have ice because we pre-froze them in the walk-in freezer at Deer Valley. But we are using more and more canned food each meal along with the now-thawing goods we broke into on Day 8. This particular recipe is sometimes called Curry from a Can because it uses groceries that will be edible on Day 15, my team’s last night in the kitchen and the night before take-out at Diamond Creek, garbanzo beans, coconut milk, canned pineapple, water chestnuts, button mushrooms and aseptic packages of tofu. We’ll serve our curry over whole wheat couscous because couscous cooks with just hot water, and therefore doesn’t use as much propane.

Enjoy my non-river trip version, with fresh vegetables from the CSA box or your garden, over steamed basmati brown rice.

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

12 to 16 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained

1 large onion, chopped

2 teaspoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes or 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 potatoes, diced (1/2-inch)

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced (1/2-inch)

2 carrots, cut in ½-inch dice

1 (14 ounce) can lite coconut milk

1 zucchini, cut in ½-inch dice

1 bunch chard, kale or other green leafy vegetable, washed and stems removed.

1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained

2 cups toasted cashew pieces (salted OK)

Premix all the spices.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large (non-stick) skillet. Over high heat, cook and stir the tofu until it is golden on most sides. Remove from the pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining olive oil and the onion, cook and stir until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and garlic; cook another minute. Stir in the spice mixture and cook and stir constantly for another minute. Add the garbanzo beans and tomatoes with their juices, along with both potatoes and the carrots. Stir in the coconut milk. Cook, covered, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If the green leafy vegetable is kale, pre-cook the leaves in boiling, salted water until just about tender. Drain and chop coarsely. If the green leafy is chard, chop into 1-inch pieces. Add the greens and the zucchini, cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, another 10 minutes or so.

Add the reserved cooked tofu and pineapple and heat an additional 5 minutes. Just before serving sprinkle the cashews over the top.

Serve with Patak’s Major Grey Chutney and plain yogurt.

Makes about 8 servings.

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Potatoes from the Grill with Saffron Pea Shoots

Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, brings a rich, golden yellow hue and exotic world-market flavor to what could be everyday potatoes and peas. Peas, here in the form of choice leaves and tendrils from the pea plant itself, and grilled potatoes, all fresh from the soil of Ranui Gardens.

2 pounds potatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Real Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion

3 to 4 cups loosely packed fresh pea shoots, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon white wine or water

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Scrub the potatoes and cut them into serving portions: If the potatoes are large slice them lengthwise about ¾-inch thick. If they are small, cut them in half. Par-cook the potatoes in a vegetable steamer (or in a microwave oven) until they are just tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Light a grill. Brush the potatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. On a vegetable grilling accessory tray, grill over high heat, turning occasionally until lightly charred in spots and tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the grilled potatoes to a serving platter.

Heat a dry skillet over medium-low flame. With your fingers crush the saffron into the skillet and toast the saffron about 15 seconds, until it is just brittle, being careful not to burn it. Immediately add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Increase the flame to medium and cook and stir the onions until they are translucent. Add the pea shoots and white wine and stir until the pea shoots are wilted. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the pea shoots over the grilled potatoes.

Makes about 4 servings.

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Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

Here’s a soup for a crowd.  Traditionally made with real meat chorizo, variations of this recipe are easy to find. I found this interpretation in Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Brother Victor D’Avila Latourrette. Brother Victor calls for the soup to cook two hours, but you know me, the pressure cooker is the way to go—dinner will be on the table in less than an hour, provided you have planned and soaked the beans beforehand. Lacinato kale was on sale last week so that is what I bought. Rumor has it that Lacinato or dinosaur kale is the most nutritious of kales.

Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup

1 cup white beans, either the larger Northern or the smaller Navy bean

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

9 cups water

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut in ½-inch cubes

1 pound Lacinato kale, stems removed and discarded

12 to 16 ounces chorizo style vegetarian “sausage”, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 ½ to 2 teaspoons sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of water, and let soak overnight.

Heat the first 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pressure cooker; cook and stir the onions over medium flame, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a few minutes more. Pour in the water and stir in the tomato paste. Rinse the soaked beans and add them to the pot along with the potatoes. Chop the kale leaves and add them. Lock the lid in place, and over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes; then quick release as directed by your pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Cook and stir the “sausage” until the pieces are lightly brown on the sides. Add the browned “sausage”, the vinegar and salt and pepper. Taste, adding more salt as needed.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

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Cream of ‘Mess o’ Greens’ Soup

More than a dozen years ago, Deer Valley co-hosted a fundraising event for Red Butte Garden,  a part of the University of Utah. Rotating through Snow Park Lodge’s banquet rooms, turned into classrooms set with portable demo kitchens complete with mirrors and gas stoves, guests enjoyed 3 Deer Valley chefs cooking 3 separate menus, all featuring fresh herbs.

I was one of the “Chefs for All Seasonings” teaching the half-hour classes—and keeping with the herb theme, I made oatmeal rosemary scones, peppercorn and pear tart, and basil ice creams, both plain and chocolate. Another chef followed his Southern heritage and taught pan-fried catfish with cornmeal and thyme, red beans and rice and mess o’ greens. Even though I’d lived in the North Carolina mountains for 2 years, I think that was the first time I heard that term used to describe a bitter-tangy-sweet mixture of greens, like collards, mustard greens, kale etc. If you come from the South, your mother probably made mess o’ greens flavored with salt pork or bacon, cooked for hours on end.

Well I love my greens, and I always make them on New Years Day to insure a profitable year, but I cook them without meat and only until they are just tender, about 15 minutes.

Here is a warming soup to welcome the first real freeze of the fall, and to use several of our CSA veggies of the week: potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, jalapeño pepper and Ranui mess o’ greens. It’s also a vegan recipe, with cashew milk instead of milk or cream. Serve with corn muffins–I recommend the recipe from my cookbook if you don’t have a favorite corn muffin or cornbread recipe.

Cream of Mess o’ Greens Soup

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup plus 4 cups vegetable broth

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 leeks, white part mostly, cleaned and sliced into rings

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, chopped

2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice

5 cups mess o’ greens, with the stems stripped and discarded

1 teaspoon Real Salt

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, optional

In a blender, whir the cashews and 1 cup of the vegetable broth until smooth, about a minute.

In a large soup pot or pressure cooker over medium flame, heat the olive oil. Cook and stir the leeks for a minute; add the onions and cook and stir another minute or so. Add the garlic and jalapeño pepper, the remaining 4 cups of vegetable broth, the potatoes and the mess o’ greens. Add the salt. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Alternately–if you use a pressure cooker, lock the lid in place, and over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to come down naturally or use a quick-release method.

Stir in the reserved cashew “milk.” Remove from the heat. Puree the soup with an immersion blender directly in the pot, or in the regular blender (in batches.).

Season to taste with salt and the optional lemon juice—to intensify the flavor.

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All Red Potatoes and Breakfast for Dinner

All Red Potatoes

Robbie's All Red Potatoes with Tofurky Sausage

These aren’t ordinary red-skinned potatoes; they are red inside and out–thanks John for planting these very special gems. All Red Potatoes (also known as Cranberry Red Potatoes) are hybrids, bred circa 1980’s, with fine, moist and creamy texture, rich earthy flavor, and unusual color—bright red skin and pink red flesh that doesn’t fade with cooking. They turn into stunning potato salad, and maybe Ranui Gardens CSA members used them for My Mom’s Potato Salad when All Red’s were in our box last month.

Last week, when I got home from work late one evening, Robbie had All Red’s with Tofurky Sausage, dribbled with creamy goat cheese, warm and waiting in the oven. We kept ooh-ing and aah-ing over the color, “Look how red they are!” Breakfast for dinner is part of Robbie’s recipe repertoire. He’ll sauté onions, bell peppers and potatoes, and once they are golden and tender, he scrambles eggs right into the pan. Cheese melted over top and salsa on the side—a perfect 20-minute dinner. With a couple of fried eggs, Robbie’s All Red Potatoes make a gratifying breakfast, even for dinner.

2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 links Tofurky Sweet Italian with Tomato and Basil Sausage, sliced about 1/4-inch thick

3 or 4 cloves garlic, sliced

5 or 6 All Red Potatoes, scrubbed and sliced about 1/4-1/2-inch thick

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

About 4 ounces fresh goat cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Over medium-high heat, cook and stir the onion until it begins to soften. Add the ‘sausage’ and cook and stir until the onion and ‘sausage’ begin to color golden. Add the garlic and the potatoes and cook and stir a few minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, turning the potatoes every so often, and seasoning with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with goat cheese. Cover and keep warm until the cheese softens.

(Robbie transferred everything to an oiled 9 x 13-inch pan and sprinkled the goat cheese on top. He covered with foil and held it at least a half-hour, until I got home.)

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